(HealthDay News) -- A new study tightens the suspected link between a virus and prostate cancer, and raises the possibility that infection with the virus could be an indicator of aggressive tumors that require swift treatment.
"We're not making any causal association at this moment," stressed Dr. Ila R. Singh, an associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah, lead author of a report on the virus, known as xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV).
"There probably are multiple causes of prostate cancer, but for the first time we have analyzed prostate cancer and normal prostate tissue and found cancers are much more likely to have [the virus]," Singh said.
The research is published in this week's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A link between XMRV and prostate cancer was first reported two years ago by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of California, San Francisco. They found the virus in cells around tumors.
The new study, involving more than 300 prostate cancer specimens, found that 27 percent of them carried the virus.
"It was also more likely to be present in more aggressive tumors," Singh said. "We found it in 20 percent of the least aggressive tumors and over 45 percent of the most aggressive tumors."
So, a test for presence of XMRV could be at least a partial solution to the major problem facing doctors who treat prostate cancer: distinguishing the minority of virulent, life-threatening cancers from the majority of tumors which grow so slowly that "watchful waiting" may be enough. Read more...
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Exercise and Healthy Diet Slow Memory Loss
Exercise and healthy diet slow memory loss
By Paul Hoskins
An active lifestyle and a healthy, fish-rich diet are not only good for your heart, they may also help tackle the memory loss associated with old age, two leading neuroscientists said on Wednesday.
As people live longer, finding ways of halting the decline in mental agility is becoming increasingly important, said Professor Ian Robertson, director of the Institute of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin.
"The biggest threat to being able to function well and properly is our brains," he told journalists at the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Dublin.
"There is very strong evidence, particularly in the over-50s, that the degree to which you maintain your mental faculties depends on a handful of quite simple environmental factors," he said, having identified seven key areas.
Those who remained physically fit, avoided high stress levels and enjoyed a rich and varied social life are better equipped to stay alert as they age. Mental stimulation, learning new things and simply thinking young also help.
A new survey compiled for the University of Kent and the charity Age Concern showed ageism was rife in Britain where people, on average, see youth as ending at 49 and old age beginning at 65.
But Robertson said such attitudes were not helpful given the number of 80-year-olds who remain "sharp as pins."
"If you start to think of yourself as old when you are 60, which is no longer justified, you will behave old," he said. Read more...
By Paul Hoskins
An active lifestyle and a healthy, fish-rich diet are not only good for your heart, they may also help tackle the memory loss associated with old age, two leading neuroscientists said on Wednesday.
As people live longer, finding ways of halting the decline in mental agility is becoming increasingly important, said Professor Ian Robertson, director of the Institute of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin.
"The biggest threat to being able to function well and properly is our brains," he told journalists at the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Dublin.
"There is very strong evidence, particularly in the over-50s, that the degree to which you maintain your mental faculties depends on a handful of quite simple environmental factors," he said, having identified seven key areas.
Those who remained physically fit, avoided high stress levels and enjoyed a rich and varied social life are better equipped to stay alert as they age. Mental stimulation, learning new things and simply thinking young also help.
A new survey compiled for the University of Kent and the charity Age Concern showed ageism was rife in Britain where people, on average, see youth as ending at 49 and old age beginning at 65.
But Robertson said such attitudes were not helpful given the number of 80-year-olds who remain "sharp as pins."
"If you start to think of yourself as old when you are 60, which is no longer justified, you will behave old," he said. Read more...
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Cranberry Juice Protects Against Heart Disease
Cranberry juice protects against heart disease
NewsTarget.com
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Veterinary Medicine studying the effects of cranberry juice powder found that regular consumption of cranberry juice over a six month period produced a significant improvement in vascular function in subjects who had high cholesterol levels and artherosclerosis.
Cranberries contain natural antioxidants, flavonoids, and polyphenols that protect against heart disease. The research team says that their goal now is to find which components of cranberries are most important to the improvements in heart health, the mechanism that causes relaxation of the blood vessels, and how diets can be modified to most easily take advantage of the disease-fighting properties. If you enjoy this article, you may also be interested in an article entitled 'Milk and dairy products cause heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis -- interview with Robert Cohen.' Read more...
NewsTarget.com
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Veterinary Medicine studying the effects of cranberry juice powder found that regular consumption of cranberry juice over a six month period produced a significant improvement in vascular function in subjects who had high cholesterol levels and artherosclerosis.
Cranberries contain natural antioxidants, flavonoids, and polyphenols that protect against heart disease. The research team says that their goal now is to find which components of cranberries are most important to the improvements in heart health, the mechanism that causes relaxation of the blood vessels, and how diets can be modified to most easily take advantage of the disease-fighting properties. If you enjoy this article, you may also be interested in an article entitled 'Milk and dairy products cause heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis -- interview with Robert Cohen.' Read more...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Green tea nutrients prevent and treat brain disorders
(NaturalNews) The December issue of Nature Chemical Biology contains a study that reveals the powerful effect of the green tea component EGCG in preventing and treating serious brain disorders like Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases. When combined with another isolated component, the elements therapeutically eliminate the protein amyloids which are thought to cause these brain diseases.
Amyloid plaques are tightly-bound protein sheets that make their way into the brain and occupy nerve cells. Sometimes they literally bind themselves around the brain tissue. Consequently, brain cells lose their oxygen source and begin to die, leading to memory and speech loss, diminished motor skills, and eventually death. Read more...
Amyloid plaques are tightly-bound protein sheets that make their way into the brain and occupy nerve cells. Sometimes they literally bind themselves around the brain tissue. Consequently, brain cells lose their oxygen source and begin to die, leading to memory and speech loss, diminished motor skills, and eventually death. Read more...
ClariMind Memory & Concentration Supplement
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Water Test Finds Toxic Substance
D.C. Water Test Finds Toxic Substance
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 19, 2004; Page B01
A more refined test of the water in the Washington Aqueduct has revealed the presence of perchlorate, a toxic chemical typically found in weapons and explosives, federal officials said yesterday.
The discovery of the chemical in the water supply challenges the prevailing theory of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has argued that contamination from buried World War I munitions in the Spring Valley neighborhood to the north poses no threat to Dalecarlia Reservoir along MacArthur Avenue NW.
Thomas P. Jacobus, chief of the Washington Aqueduct, said perchlorate in the reservoir measured between 1.2 and 1.8 parts per billion (ppb) and did not pose a health risk. He said he has ordered weekly tests of the water and is recommending that the corps accelerate its search for the source of perchlorate contamination.
"I'm obviously concerned about anything that has to do with drinking water. . . . But there is no cause for alarm," Jacobus said. Read more...
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 19, 2004; Page B01
A more refined test of the water in the Washington Aqueduct has revealed the presence of perchlorate, a toxic chemical typically found in weapons and explosives, federal officials said yesterday.
The discovery of the chemical in the water supply challenges the prevailing theory of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has argued that contamination from buried World War I munitions in the Spring Valley neighborhood to the north poses no threat to Dalecarlia Reservoir along MacArthur Avenue NW.
Thomas P. Jacobus, chief of the Washington Aqueduct, said perchlorate in the reservoir measured between 1.2 and 1.8 parts per billion (ppb) and did not pose a health risk. He said he has ordered weekly tests of the water and is recommending that the corps accelerate its search for the source of perchlorate contamination.
"I'm obviously concerned about anything that has to do with drinking water. . . . But there is no cause for alarm," Jacobus said. Read more...
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